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Giffords urges action on guns in new ad

Former Rep. Gabrielle Giffords (D-Ariz.) is urging lawmakers to act quickly to prevent gun violence in a new ad released Monday.

The ad is the first from her super-PAC, Americans for Responsible Solutions, which the former Arizona lawmaker created to help push for gun control.

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“We have a problem, where we shop, where we pray, where our children go to school,” says Giffords in the ad, as video clips show memorials to mass shootings at a supermarket in Tucson, Ariz., a Sikh temple in Oak Creek, Wis., and Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Conn.

“But there are solutions we can agree on, even gun owners like us,” Gifford continues, as an onscreen card says that nine in 10 Americans back universal background checks.

The ad then shows Giffords and her husband, Mark Kelly.

“Take it from me,” says Giffords. “Congress must act. Let’s get this done.”

Giffords, who was shot in the head during the Tucson mass shooting in 2011, has become a vocal proponent of gun control, as lawmakers weigh new restrictions to help stem firearm violence.

The Senate has begun hearings on proposed measures, and President Obama is urging lawmakers to enact bans on the sale of assault weapons and high-capacity clips as well as instituting mandatory checks for all firearm purchasers. But those measures face opposition from the nation’s gun lobby and from lawmakers from both parties.

Giffords offered dramatic testimony before the Senate earlier this month, imploring them to act on gun legislation.

"Violence is a big problem. Too many children are dying. Too many children. We must do something,” she said at a Judiciary Committee hearing.

Giffords will also attend the president’s State of the Union address as the guest of Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) and Rep. Ron Barber (D-Ariz.), according to reports.

The president is expected to make his push for gun control a centerpiece of his address to Congress.